


Tell No Lies

by nychus



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Love Confessions, M/M, Status Effects
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 05:46:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18046646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nychus/pseuds/nychus
Summary: Noctis and Prompto get hit by some weird goblin magic, leaving Prompto unable to speak the truth and Noctis unable to lie. Unfortunately, Noctis's mouth sometimes works on its own accord and things come to light that he wish wouldn't.





	Tell No Lies

They had been on their way to a haven, not thirty feet from the road, when a bunch of goblins jumped from a bush and started teasing them. Goblins were less dangerous in terms of a physical attack but much more dangerous because you never knew what kind of tricks they might pull.

The boys were tired and didn’t want to deal with them, but knew that if they didn’t, they’d have to listen to them all night. They were quick and difficult to pin down. At one point, Noctis warped to a vantage near Prompto, trying to see if there was a good place to toss a flask, but none came to him. 

A sudden surprised shout from Prompto brought his eyes down to the blonde but before anything more could be done, both were covered in a powder that left them coughing. Seconds later, Ignis had disposed of the goblin with a well tossed knife and Gladio ran with him to be sure the two were alright.

“I’m fine,” Noctis coughed. “Let’s get to the haven.”

“Well, I’m not,” Prompto said and all three turned to look at him. Ignis immediately went to check for wounds, but Prompto just looked confused. He kept saying he didn’t feel well or he hurt and he started getting frantic about it.

“Prompto, calm down,” Ignis said.

“I am calm!” he cried. Then with an annoyed shout, he stomped off to the haven, leaving the others behind, thoroughly bewildered.

Prompto was quiet as they set up camp and Ignis started working on dinner.

“You okay?” Noctis asked, sitting next to him.

“Yes,” was the answer and before Noctis could say anything more he let out a frustrated noise. “Dude, I can’t. I just…I don’t know! Ask me my favorite color.”

“I know your favorite color.”

“Just ask me!”

“What your favorite color?”

“Green! No, red! NO! BLUE! UGH!” He fell backward in a huff.

“Is his favorite color yellow?” Gladio asked, watching the exchange.

“Yeah,” Noctis said slowly. What was going on?

“Prompto, do you like chocobos?”

“No,” he muttered, seemingly resigned to his fate.

“So, he can only lie?” Gladio asked, looking back towards Ignis who had pulled out his phone and was already working on figuring out what status effect this was and how to cure it. “But, Noct’s been telling the truth.”

“Maybe it only affected me?” Prompto said, sitting back up. “That’s fair.”

“Noctis…” Ignis had joined the others by the fire, face still adhered to whatever his phone was telling him. “Noctis, tell a lie.”

“What?”

“Tell a lie,” Ignis repeated, looking up. “Stick with the colors, lie about your favorite color.”

“Okay. It’s blue.” Noctis’s eyes shot up and he looked back at Prompto. His favorite color was blue, but he had intended on saying yellow just to mess with Prompto. He tried a few more times, intending on saying different colors and yet each time it came out blue. “I can’t lie.”

Much to his annoyance, Gladio laughed, “Oh, man, think of all the stuff we could get you to tell us.”

“Don’t you dare,” Ignis shot him a glare that Noctis was pretty sure should have killed the shield and at least Gladio had the decency to look ashamed. “From what I’m reading, there isn’t much to do but wait this out.”

“How long?” Noctis and Prompto asked at the same time.

“As with all ailments, it varies, but average is two days.”

“Awesome,” Prompto sighed.

“Remember, just because someone asks you something, doesn’t mean you have to answer,” Gladio pointed out and the younger men nodded.

~*~*~*~*~

The car ride was extremely quiet as Prompto wasn’t keen on chatting with lies. There was a lot, it seemed, that counted towards lying. Not just answering questions but he couldn’t describe something correctly. When they were leaving camp, he mentioned what a terrible, brown sky they had when he had obviously meant to say it was a beautiful, blue sky.

Noctis’s speech wasn’t impaired too much, but he was generally quiet anyway.

When they reached a small outpost, Ignis and Gladio went off in search of supplies while Noctis ordered lunch for them all. He and Prompto waited at the little outside table for both friends and food.

“Do you think I have a chance with Cindy?” Prompto asked quite suddenly.

“What?”

“Cindy, do you think there is any chance? I don’t want to know what you think,” Prompto said.

The earnest eyes of his friend said that he really wanted to know the truth and probably felt that this was the only time he’d get it because of course Noctis would be optimistic for his friend.

“Honestly, no, I don’t.”

Prompto deflated and laid his head on the table.

“I think she’s married to her work. I don’t know her very well, so I could be completely wrong. But, no, from our interactions with her, I don’t think you do. Sorry, man.”

“It’s fine.”

“What’s fine?” Gladio asked as he and Ignis joined them.

“Nothing,” he muttered. Gladio glanced over at Noctis, but the prince’s lips were sealed.

While they ate, they discussed what their next move was. Cor had sent them word that there might be a royal tomb in Myrlwood. They weren’t too far away from Meldacio at the moment and it seemed like it might be a good bet to go. They could see if there were any hunts posted for the area and explore the wood at the same time. Noctis could also get some fishing in to fill in some of their dwindling food.

As they were finishing, a couple of ladies sat near them and they were discussing Lunafreya’s wedding dress. It seemed it was on display in Altissia and they were trying to figure out a way to go see it.

“I bet Prince Noctis was so excited to be marrying Lady Lunafreya,” one of the women said and before Noctis could think to stop himself, he quietly responded with “I bet he wasn’t.”

The women didn’t hear, but it was clear his friends did. The looks on their faces said they were all in shock at the statement. He fumbled a bit as if he wanted to explain, but ended up just leaving the table and heading across the road. Once he was well away from the street and down the slight incline some, he found a large rock to lean against so that he could completely hide away.

He absolutely couldn’t believe he had said that out loud. Why would he? Why would he let loose one of his biggest secrets like that?

And he really hated how disappointed the others must be in him. They had left Insomnia for him to get married. They all seemed genuinely happy about the marriage and were excited for him. He was too, at first. He was excited to see Luna again and know that they would never have to be apart like they had been the last twelve years. But as the trip went on and he experienced life outside of the Citadel, he came to realize that he didn’t really want to get married. At least not to Luna. He would, of course. He would do it if it would help the people of this crumbling world have hope. But he realized now that he wouldn’t be in love with her. Perhaps she wasn’t even in love with him, but felt the same sense of duty that he did.

No one was supposed to know that.

Noctis wasn’t sure how long he sat there before he heard footsteps coming up to his little rock. He knew without looking that it would be Ignis and he wasn’t disappointed to find he was right.

“Are you alright?” Ignis asked as he took a seat next to his prince.

“No,” Noctis muttered. Then, without thinking, he leaned into Ignis’s body and with a bit of shuffling on Ignis’s part to stay comfortable, they sat there in silence. Noctis finally asked, “Is everyone disappointed in me?”

“Noct, no, of course not. We were just surprised. We all thought you seemed genuinely happy about the prospect when we first left Insomnia. And I, perhaps, tried to ignore the signs that started indicating that you didn’t want to marry Lunafreya.

“Because you knew I’d still marry her.”

“Correct.”

A few more minutes of silence and then, “Thank you.”

“Whatever for?” Ignis asked, angling his head just enough to look at Noctis’s face, but the prince refused to look up.

“For not using this ailment against me, even in jest.”

“Never,” Ignis said quietly, squeezing Noctis a bit as if giving a one-armed hug. “Never.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “It’s just one of the many things I love about you, Specs.”

Once again, his mouth said words that were never supposed to be uttered but he hoped that Ignis would think of it as a platonic type of love. He waited for Ignis to say something, but he never did. They sat in silence for some time longer before Ignis decided it was time for them to get moving. Noctis protested, but he took the offered hand and allowed Ignis to haul him to his feet.

~*~*~*~*~

Ignis must have told the other two not to ask any questions about what Noctis had said because he only got a couple of curious looks and nothing more. 

The second day after the goblin attack, the litmus test became what their favorite colors were. Prompto was almost always repeating colors, trying to get yellow out and failing. They were in the Vesperpool now and Noctis shooed him away to let him fish in peace. It was nearing twilight when he heard a shout of excitement from the haven and he knew that Prompto could tell the truth again.

Quietly he tried to say his favorite color was green, but it came out blue. His was still in effect. Oh, well, it’s not like he needed to lie to the fish for any reason.

Half an hour later, Ignis joined him. He greeted not with a “hello” but with a “What’s your favorite color?”

“Blue.”

“I’m sure it will wear off soon.”

Noctis just shrugged and continued watching his line. He was very aware that Ignis decided to stay. He was going to ask why when he decided it was likely because it was getting dark. Odds were Ignis would pull him away from the water’s edge soon. In hopes of not accidentally saying anything else that he might regret, Noctis started trying to name his favorite color under his breath. It was about fifteen minutes before green actually came out. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“Green, Specs. My favorite color is green.”

“Wonderful,” Ignis smiled.

Satisfied he wasn’t going to say anything else dumb, Noctis tossed his fishing gear back into the armiger and was ready to head back to the haven. He was very surprised when Ignis asked him to wait a moment.

“What’s up?”

“Your favorite color is indeed green, right?”

“Yeah, green. Totally green. And I love to eat carrots and hate fishing.”

“Apologies, I just wanted to be sure.”

The look that Ignis was placing him under was not one that Noctis had seen before. He couldn’t decide if he was in trouble or Ignis was in trouble or anything at all really. When he just about couldn’t take it anymore, Ignis started talking.

“Yesterday, while we were sitting by the rock,-”

_Oh, gods._

“-you said, in so many words, that you loved me.”

_Oh, gods, no. No no no no no._

“I just…I just want to be sure that you mean it in a brotherly way. That’s not a word we’ve used since we were very young and I… That’s all it was, correct?”

More than anything Noctis wished he knew what that look on Ignis’s face was. Was he looking for some confirmation that Noctis returned his feelings? Or just wanting to be able to let Noctis down gently and try to salvage their friendship because this would definitely put a weirdness on it. All he had to do was agree that it was brotherly love and they could go on with their lives as if nothing weird had happened.

But Noctis didn’t want that. He wanted to know.

“If it wasn’t?”

He watched, awestruck, as the edges of Ignis’s mouth curled upward slightly. Taking that as a good sign, Noctis stepped forward and grabbed Ignis’s hands. He then stood on his tip toes to place a chaste kiss right on the corner of Ignis’s mouth.

Noctis had no idea what was in their future. He knew he would marry Luna if he needed to. He knew he would do everything he could to make the world better without that needing to be done. He also knew that Ignis would always be there and nothing would change that. The future was a big scary unknown with all sorts of dangers awaiting them. But right now, in this moment, all they needed was each other.

They may not know what awaits them, but they could be with each other and love each other as they navigated the unknown together.


End file.
